© Niels Boersema
The Dutch football association (KNVB) has somewhat surprisingly appointed Nigel de Jong as director of top football. The former international will take up his duties this month. He succeeds Nico-Jan Hoogma, who did not extend his contract that expires this summer.
BelgianBron: BELGIAN
38-year-old De Jong is a big name in Dutch football. The former player of Ajax, Hamburg, Manchester City, AC Milan, LA Galaxy and Galatasaray collected 81 caps for the Orange between 2004 and 2015. In 2010 he lost the World Cup final with the Netherlands against Spain in South Africa.
De Jong completed the UEFA MBA management course this spring. “It is a very good prospect to get started in this position, in which I want to help improve Dutch top football, among men and women,” said De Jong in a first reaction.
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“The Netherlands always has the ambition to belong to the absolute world top. The talent present and the history justify that ambition. Working in top football requires specific knowledge and experience. In my years as a player I gained that at various clubs at home and abroad and I can now use it. It has been seventeen years since I left the Netherlands, but of course I have always followed Dutch football. And I feel like I’ve always been a part of it. It is a great honor and I am going to give the best interpretation here, together with others.”
